Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart Of Life (7") - Red Vinyl

Japandroids came roaring back with Near to the Wild Heart of Life on January 27, 2017, and five years after Celebration Rock it still feels like a bold turn without losing the rush that made them matter. The Vancouver duo of Brian King and David Prowse built their name on sweat, speed, and songs that sounded like they were barely hanging on. Here, they don’t slow down so much as widen the lens. The title nods to a James Joyce line, and the record chases that restless spirit, just with brighter colors and a bit more studio craft.

The opening title track lays out the mission fast. King’s guitar surges, Prowse drives the beat like he is sprinting, and the chorus hits with that old Japandroids surge, only now the edges are rounded in a way that invites a bigger room singalong. It is a small shift that feels huge for them. They once cut their best songs like a live set caught on tape. This time they let themselves layer and shape. The result is a record that still kicks, but also glows.

North East South West rides a classic road-song lilt, a postcard from years spent crisscrossing Canada and the States. You can feel the miles and the friendships, the half-remembered bars and basements, the sense that a band can build its world one night at a time. No Known Drink or Drug is another keeper, a hooky, breathless sprint that lands somewhere between puppy love and lifer devotion. These are the moments that remind you why people still argue about guitars in 2017.

Then there is Arc of Bar, the curveball. At over seven minutes it moves in waves, with a pulsing undercurrent and a haze of effects that would have sounded out of place on their early records. Here it works. The song stretches without snapping, a nocturnal drift that hints at the cities and hotel rooms where these ideas were pieced together. It shows how far they were willing to push, and how much care went into getting the balance right.

They close with In a Body Like a Grave, a rousing, plainspoken benediction that gathers up the album’s themes, love and work and the stubborn joy of trying. There is a little wisdom baked in, the kind you get from playing a thousand shows. It does not feel heavy though. It feels earned.

A lot was written at the time about how this was Japandroids’ studio album, and that is true. The guitars are multitracked and full, the vocals sit a touch cleaner in the mix, there are keyboards in the margins, and the songs breathe in a way they did not before. But the heart is the same. Two friends locking in and chasing transcendence at volume. The record landed well with critics, drawing warm reviews from places like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, and fans took it as proof that the band could grow without sanding off their spark.

On vinyl, the record snaps to life. The title track leaps out of the speakers, Arc of Bar blooms, and that last song feels like a curtain call. If you are digging around a Melbourne record store and spot Near to the Wild Heart of Life vinyl, grab it. It sits nicely beside Celebration Rock, and it is a solid starting point if you are just now getting into Japandroids vinyl. For collectors, it is the moment where the band lets a little neon into the black-and-white photo. If you like to buy Japandroids records online, make room for it. It is one of those Japandroids albums on vinyl that rewards repeated spins, loud and late.

Released through Anti- in the United States and Arts & Crafts in Canada, the album marked a clear new chapter for the duo. It kept the fists-up catharsis, but added craft and color, and that turned out to suit them. Put it on, let the needle drop, and you can hear a band still reaching, still chasing that wild heart, only with a steadier hand. For anyone stocking up on guitar-driven vinyl records Australia wide, this one belongs in the stack.